PHOTO OF THE DAY: ELEVATOR DOWN

What had been an abandoned elevator in disrepair was reduced to a pile of rubble Monday afternoon after Kelly Knodel and Knodel Contractors took down the structure that has been known as Shanard’s Elevator since at least 1914. Actually, the Shanard’s operation was established in the late 1800s when George H. Shanard entered the grain-handling business in Yankton before quickly expanding across Eastern South Dakota. Freeman was the location for one of the first elevators owned by Shanard Elevator Company, according to a report published by the Freeman Courier in 1954, on the occasion of the town’s diamond jubilee (75th anniversary) celebration.

The building that was removed, however, was not the original, according to a report carried in the Courier in July of 1914. According to the news item: “The Shanard elevator at this place will be taken down and replaced by a fine new house. As soon as all the the grain is shipped and the house is empty work will commence. This is a good town for any kind of a business and the Shanards were here long enough to know it. Comparatively few towns, if any, in the state ship as much grain as does this town.”

According to the Freeman history book written by J.J Mendel, by 1900 there were eight grain elevators in Freeman.

Shanard operated the Main Street elevator until Oct. 1, 1978 when it was sold to the Freeman Farmers Elevator, and it remained in operation through at least the 1980s. The property had more recently been owned by Daniel Hauck of Olivet before the city of Freeman took possession of it on April 13 of this year. The city is paying $168,340 for its removal, which is not included in the $5.1 million price tag of the larger Main Street project.